Ten good minutes of setup.
Years of texts that sound like a friend.

Same person. Same morning. Two very different texts.

senior-bridge writes every message fresh, from what’s in her profile. Give it a name and “likes family” and you get a polite greeting card. Give it the grandkids’ names, the park she walks in and the way she talks, and you get a friend.

The first text is friendly. The second sounds like someone who knows her. The difference is the profile.

💬 Rather talk it through? Copy our interview prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and it will walk you through every step.

After setup

A week with Maggie

Here’s how the pieces fit together in a real week. Every example below is the kind of text she’d actually get.

1. Monday9 AM

   📰 The Golden Years Gazette

   Good morning, Maggie! ☕ Crisp start to the week, sweater weather till lunch. This week’s Gazette has a slow-cooker apple crisp and a chair stretch that’s kind to new hips. Enjoy!
   senior-bridge.com/gazette/…

   Weather in plain words, an easy recipe for one or two, a chair stretch, a fun holiday from the week and Louisville happenings, with a large-print PDF to print. If her quiet hours run past 9, it waits until they end.

2. Tuesdayevening

   🔎 “Did the Cards win?”

   Did the Cards win last night? I fell asleep at halftime!

   They did, Maggie! 🏀 (the real final score, plus the play everyone’s talking about)

   It only looks things up when she asks something current, up to 5 times a day. Everyday chat never triggers a search. If a message suggests she might be unwell, it skips the search and answers with care.

3. Wednesdaymorning

   📅 An appointment, straight to her calendar

   Remind me about the eye doctor Thursday at 10:30. Anne’s driving me.

   Got it, Maggie: the eye doctor Thursday at 10:30. 👓 So nice of Anne to drive you! Would you like a calendar invite for it? Reply YES, and if you send me the address I’ll add that too, so your phone (and car) can take you there.

   YES

   Here’s your calendar invite for the eye doctor, Thursday at 10:30 AM. Tap the link, then Add: senior-bridge.com/cal/…

   The link opens a large-print page with one big “Add to Calendar” button. If an address is wrong, she can just text the right one and gets an updated invite.

4. Thursdaymorning

   🙏 A verse she can trust

   Morning, Maggie!! Sun’s out and it’s heading for 70, perfect for a loop around Cherokee Park. 🌤️
   
   “This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24)
   
   How did the hip feel when you got up?

   The words come exactly from the source, so a verse she knows by heart reads the way she knows it.

5. Fridayafternoon

   ⏸️ Plans change

   Pause my pill reminder, I’m at Joan’s till Sunday.

   Done! I’ve paused your Synthroid reminder until Sunday, and I’ve let your family know. Have a wonderful time with Joan! 💛

   Reminders you set are never deleted by a text, only paused, and you get a text and email right away. Something she mentioned herself is cancelled only after an “are you sure?” Want it back on? Click Resume on her Reminders tab, or she can text “start it again.”

6. SaturdayPremium

   📞 A call on a rainy day

   🔊 “Hi Maggie! It’s Dot. It’s so nice to hear from you. What’s on your mind today?”

   🔊 “Oh, it’s pouring. I was going to walk in the park.”

   🔊 “That’s a shame! It should clear by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe a few stretches by the window today?”

   She can call any time, or her companion can call her on the days you choose (she says YES by text first; voicemail gets a short message and one “sorry I missed you” text). Same safety checks as texting, 20 minutes per call, 100 minutes a month. We keep a written transcript, never a recording.

7. Sundayevening

   🎨 Her Sunday Recap

   

   What a lovely week, Maggie! 💛 Your first red tomato of the summer, cookie day with Lily (all six of them 😄), and a cozy cookie break on the couch together. Here’s a little picture of it all.

   It arrives a couple of minutes after her Sunday evening check-in (or at 6:30 PM). Hard weeks are never shown; the comic becomes an “uplift” picture of things she loves. Every picture is checked before it’s sent.

   Getting her (and Biscuit) drawn right

   Leave Appearance empty and the comic shows places, pets and things instead of a person. To have her drawn, use Describe from photo on her Profile tab (tick the consent box first). The photo is turned into a short description and then thrown away; it’s never stored. Read the description and fix anything wrong. One tester’s dark-brown beard was described as “auburn,” and every comic drew it red until the family changed that one word.

   Describe pet from photo does the same for pets, so Biscuit looks the same in every panel, week after week.

Reminders that sound like a friend

Add them on her Reminders tab (she can also just text “remind me…”). The title, description and time all feed the message, so a little detail goes a long way.

Tip: set reminder times outside quiet hours. A reminder due within 15 minutes of a check-in rides along inside it, so she gets one text instead of two.

Short on time?

Let an AI assistant interview you

Some people find it easier to talk it through. Copy this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It will ask about your loved one a question or two at a time, nudge you for the specific details that matter, and finish with answers laid out to match each setup step, ready to paste in.

You are helping me set up senior-bridge, a friendly text-message companion for an older person in my life. Interview me so I can fill in their profile well. The more specific and personal my answers, the warmer and more personal their texts will be.

How to interview me:
- Ask one or two questions at a time, in a warm, conversational way. Wait for my answer before moving on.
- When an answer is vague (like "family" or "walks"), gently ask for specifics: names, places, smells, sounds, little stories.
- Never invent details. If I don't know or skip something, leave it blank.
- I may use first names only. That's fine; don't ask for last names, addresses or medical records.

Cover these, in this order:
1. Who they are: what I call them, what family calls them (their nickname), their first name, the city or town they live in, their 5-digit ZIP code, and their time zone.
2. How to talk with them: which tone fits best (Warm & chatty, Warm & playful, Warm & dignified, or Warm & quiet), their faith (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Spiritual, or None), whether they'd like a short morning verse or quote, whether they enjoy emoji, and an optional name for their companion (like "Dot").
3. Their world: at least 5 specific things they love; topics to avoid (politics, losses, health worries, family tension); how they sound and what they'd hate (for example, "doesn't want pity"); the important people in their life and how they're related; and any pets.
4. Interests to follow (optional, premium): up to 5 topics to research and bring up, each with a story angle (not "baseball" but "the Cincinnati Reds, she's followed them since the Big Red Machine days"), and how often: Daily (2 at most), Weekly, or Only when asked.
5. Daily rhythm: a good time for a morning text and an evening text, their bedtime and wake-up time (quiet hours), and how worried I'd be after no reply for 24 hours, 48 hours, 3 days or 4 days.
6. Extras they'd enjoy: answers to current questions (scores, news, opening hours), a Monday newsletter, a Sunday picture of their week, calendar invites for appointments, phone conversations, and a friendly scheduled call.
7. Reminders: medications or routines, each with a short title, a helpful detail (where the bottle is, with food or not) and a time.

When we're done, give me a summary I can copy straight into the setup screens, using exactly these labels:

STEP 1 - WHO THEY ARE
Display name:
Nickname:
ZIP code:
Time zone:

STEP 2 - HOW TO TALK WITH THEM
Tone:
Faith:
Morning verse or quote: Yes / No
Use emoji: Yes / No
Companion name:

STEP 3 - THEIR WORLD
Things they love (comma-separated):
Topics to avoid (comma-separated):
How they sound (style notes, 2-3 sentences):
Family & background:
Pets:
Interests (topic - how often):

STEP 4 - DAILY RHYTHM
Morning check-in:
Evening check-in:
Quiet hours start (bedtime):
Quiet hours end (wake-up):
Alert me if no reply for:

STEP 5 - EXTRAS
Look up current facts / Golden Years Gazette / Sunday Recap / Calendar invites / Phone conversations / Scheduled calls: Yes or No for each

REMINDERS (add on their Reminders tab)
Title - Description - Time

Then tell me the 2 or 3 places where a little more detail would make the biggest difference.

Let's start.

About privacy: whatever you type goes to that AI company, not to us, under their privacy terms. First names are plenty, and skip anything you’d rather keep private; you can add it in the dashboard yourself.

Before you call it done

Most “it feels generic” moments come from skipping a few of these. Your ticks are saved in this browser.

• Nickname is what family actually calls her
• Time zone is hers, not yours; ZIP code filled in
• Tone picked on purpose, not left on the default
• Faith is right, or set to None on purpose
• Loves has 5 or more specific, sensory entries
• Topics to avoid has at least one entry
• Style notes describe how she really sounds, in 2–3 sentences
• Family & background names the people who matter
• Check-ins and quiet hours match her real day
• You (and anyone else on the alert list) texted JOIN
• She texted JOIN, and the dashboard shows the green check
• Reminders have enough detail to sound natural
• Optional: Sunday Recap appearance and pets read and corrected
• Premium: interests have a story angle, not just a topic